Tag Archives: Joe Harris

Dust – Hugh Howey. I took this out from the library in December 2014 and didn’t get around to reading it until Febraruy 2017. AND I DON’T KNOW WHY. I loved Wool, was pretty excited by Shift and couldn’t wait for Dust. Who knows why it languished for so long in my TBR pile. Happily, when I finally did get around to reading it, it didn’t disappoint. I love the enclosed world(s) created in the Wool series, and I’m a sucker for unexpected twists and turns which Dust delivered in spades.

Captain Marvel, Volume 1: Rise of Alpha Flight – Michele Fazekis et. al. I don’t know why Alpha Flight are suddenly in space, but there’s not really any time to ponder that question as we’re thrown straight into the action, and I’m kind of into it. The combination of action, politics and sci-fi in this volume reminded me of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which can only be a good thing. Where’s my Captain Marvel movie, Marvel????

Queer: A Graphic History – Meg-John Barker & Julia Scheele. Breaking down queer theory is a tall order, but one that this book takes in its stride. Illustrated with humour and verve, it takes a more-or-less academic look at an incredibly complex subject and manages to make it accessible to almost everyone.

Paper Girls, Volume 2 – Brian K. Vaughan & Cliff Chiang. So, I liked the first volume of Paper Girls. It was good, and the ending was exciting, but I felt a bit unmoored when reading it. I was hopeful for volume 2, but not quite sure what to expect. Luckily we jump right in to aliens, time travel, witty banter, awesome relationships and general EXCITEMENT. If you haven’t started this series yet, you really, really need to.

Sorcerer to the Crown – Zen Cho. This was recommended to me by several bloggers and man am I glad I listened to you all. Things are not going well for England’s Sorcerer Royal. There’s a war on, and the government are set on involving magic in the fight, magic reserves seem to be falling, someone keeps trying to kill him, he’s somehow ended up with a female apprentice. Oh, and he’s black. This book covers so many amazing things. Magic – check. ‘Regency’ shenanigans – check. Diversity and the problems inherent therein – check. Rampant feminism – check. Romance – check. Read it!

Tracer – Rob Boffard. The future is here and it’s not that fun. On a decrepit spaceship, Riley delivers packages for a living. It sounds easy, but given how much of the station is a no-go area thanks to various gangs, it’s not an easy way to get by. When she gets dragged into a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top of station management, she does the only thing she knows how to do – runs. It’s Mirror’s Edge in space, basically. I never fully connected with this book, but it was a fun, fast read, and I recommend it if you’re looking for some lighter, action-packed sci-fi.

The Battles of Bridget Lee: Invasion of Farfall – Ethan Young. A sci-fi war comic aimed at younger readers, there’s not much in this that’s earth-shatteringly original. That said, I mostly enjoyed it but took, and still take, issue with the idea that it’s the future but women aren’t allowed to take part in combat.

Doctor Strange, Volume 1: The Way of the Weird – Jason Aaron & Chris Bachalo. I’ve never had any fondness for Doctor Strange. In my view, the magic Marvel universe, and the mutant one should remain separate. Marvel disagree though, so I thought I’d give this new series a chance, especially since it’s illustrated by Chris Bachalo, who I’ve had a soft spot for since Generation X. And I loved it! This is a rollicking, disturbing, amusing look into the world of Doctor Strange. A good starting point for new readers, but one that fully acknowledges and incorporates the history of the character.

Spider-Man/Deadpool, Volume 1: Isn’t It Bromantic – Joe Kelly & Ed McGuinness. Peter Parker is another character I’ve never have a lot of time for. Sadly, even though he’s got Deadpool around to help him be much cooler, ‘Isn’t It Bromantic’ hasn’t changed that for me. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy this at all. Spider-Man isn’t my cup of tea, this version of Deadpool isn’t stellar, and putting them together weakens them both.

Daredevil Back in Black, Volume 1: Chinatown – Charles Soule & Rob Garney. This has a surprising amount of negative reviews, but I actually really enjoyed it. I’ve never really found a Daredevil book that I’ve fully liked, so I didn’t have much in the way of expectations for this one. But it’s fun, and interesting, and dark. Daredevil gets a sidekick, who brings a lot of complications to the table, but that’s part of what makes the book worth reading.

Spider-Gwen, Volume 0: Most Wanted? – Jason Latour & Robbi Rodriguez. Given that Spider-Gwen was initially just super cool outfit, ‘Most Wanted?’ does a really good job of setting her up as a fully-fleshed character with motivations and problems. Gwen Stacy decides to become a superhero when she’s bitten by a spider and develops powers. The problem is that she doesn’t really know what she’s doing, her band would really like her to stop missing practice, and her father is the vigilante-hating Chief of Police. A solid set-up and some great artwork.

Guardians of the Galaxy/All-New X-Men: The Trial of Jean Grey – Brian Michael Bendis, Sara Pichelli & Stuart Immonen. An interesting concept – can you try a time-displaced Jean Grey for crimes that she hasn’t yet technically committed? – that was well handled.

The Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Past – Chris Claremont, John Byrne & John Romita Jnr. A classic storyline for a reason, and a reminder that Kitty Pryde has always been awesome.

The X-Files Season 10, Volume 4 – Joe Harris et. al. Although I enjoy this generally, it featured a lot of characters I’m not particularly into (Frank Black, Agents Dogget and Reyes).

American Vampire, Volume 6 – Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque et. al. A collection of stand-alone issues that plug in some gaps in the histories of Skinner and Hattie.

American Vampire, Volume 7 – Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque et. al. A new big bad is introduced and Pearl continues to be awesome.

Thief of Thieves, Volume 1: I Quit – Robert Kirkman, Nick Spencer et. al. I’m not a fan of Kirkman’s writing from what I’ve read of The Walking Dead, but I thought I’d give this a whirl to see if it had improved any. And… nope. Underwhelming.

Wolverine and the X-Men, Volume 2: Death of Wolverine – Jason Latour et. al. Uneven as Wolverine dies off-screen in the middle of the issues collected here, so we move from Wolverine and Storm on a date to the entire school mourning Wolverine without anything in between. Meh.

Secret Avengers, Volume 2: The Labyrinth – Ales Kot & Michael Walsh. Deadpool – yay! I also quite liked what was happening with Hawkeye (I didn’t know he had a sense of humour) and Spider-Woman, two characters I don’t know a great deal about. In conlusion, Deadpool – yay!

The Nowhere Emporium – Ross MacKenzie. This is a magical read about a Glaswegian orphan who stumbles on a mysterious shop that turns out to hold untold wonder and, of course, more than a little danger. Loved it!

Bright Young Things – Scarlett Thomas. I found this interesting, if not fantastic. Six people answer an ad for ‘bright young things’ and find themselves living together on an unidentified island. They pass the time by talking about anything and everything, but why are they on the island and who brought them there?

Dirty Little Secrets – Liliana Hart. I enjoyed this little romance mystery more than I thought I would, though it wasn’t without annoyances. The two main characters were likeable and the story zipped along. A nice, light read.

Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes – Denise Grover Swank. It’s hard to read this and not think of the Sookie Stackhouse books. It has a similar Southern setting, and a similar main character (Rose) who has a supernatural ability that marks her out as different. Rose’s transition from shy wallflower to independent woman throughout the novel is enjoyable, and Rose herself is likeable, but she did make me want to shake her on many, many occasions. The writing is nice though not exactly challenging (the strongest curse that Rose can bring herself to use is ‘crappy doodle’, a phrase that no one should ever say ever) . An uncomplicated read for a day where you really can’t face engaging your brain, I feel. It’s actually still available as a free download on amazon if that sounds like it’ll float your boat.

Dearest Clementine – Lex Martin. An incredibly overwrought New Adult romance featuring a damaged girl with a mysterious past, a saviour of a man, and a collection of loveable friends. Look, I don’t think that this is a particularly good read and yet I mostly enjoyed it. Sometimes you need to read something that reminds you of the fan-fiction you used to read when you were 13.

The Sky is Everywhere – Jandy Nelson. I downloaded this for free from amazon and assumed that it was self-published. Imagine my surprise when I saw it on the shelves of my local library not that long after. It has the hallmarks of a self-published YA novel, I think, and I found the premise a bit stretched and the love-triangle hugely unrealistic. I wasn’t particular enamoured with it overall.

Blur – Kristen Middleton. This poor book tries so hard to be an interesting horror-romance, but it doesn’t manage on either count. The characters are mostly poorly drawn, the dialogue is strained and the relationships are uninteresting. Can we move on from love triangles please?

Love Handles – Gretchen Galway. The blurb for this made me think it was going to be dreadful – Beverly’s a preschool teacher who never goes to the gym but then she inherits a fitness wear company – but it was actually really, really fun. The premise is silly, the romance is silly but it all works.

An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth – Chris Hadfield. In some ways this was more of a motivational book than a memoir, but I enjoyed it despite my slightly surprise at the format. Hadfield’s voice is warm and witty, and his account of his career so far is definitely worth a read.

Charm – Sarah Pinborough. A dark and sexy retelling of Cinderella.

The Activity, Volume 1 – Nathan Edmondson & Mitch Gerads. I don’t remember this at all, which can’t be a good sign.

The Manhattan Projects, Volume 1: Science Bad – Jonathan Hickman & Nick Pitarra. An alternate history version of the project that developed the atomic bomb, this is really weird and really interesting. The sci-fi elements are awesome, and the characters are all weird and wonderful and terrible. Give it a try!

Mariana – Monica Dickens. We follow Mary from her childhood to Paris to married life, and it’s charming. A true comfort read for when you need one.

99 Days – Matteo Casali & Kristian Donaldson. Interesting to see the Rwandan genocide covered in a comic, but this, like most of the Vertigo Crime titles, wasn’t particularly great.

Claudine at School – Colette. Although Claudine was a vivacious character, I struggled through the story of her childhood and early adulthood. I just found that I didn’t really care about what was happening, which was disappointing.

All-New X-Men, Volume 1: Here Comes Yesterday – Brian Michael Bendis & Stuart Immonen. It’s probably not the best idea to read these as out of order as I have, but such is the life of a person who uses the library a lot. It was actually great to read how the whole thing started at last.

Rat Queens, Volume 1: Sass and Sorcery – Kurtis J. Wiebe & Roc Upchurch. So many different people recommended this to me and with it’s kick-ass characters and fun setting, I can see why. I wasn’t blown away by it though. I actually feel a bit bad my reaction because I wanted to love it. (And , you know, screw you Roc Upchurch.) http://www.themarysue.com/rat-queens-artist-domestic-abuse/

The X-Files Season 10, Volume 3 – Joe Harris & Matthew Dow Smith. Still digging this, but don’t tell anyone that I haven’t watched the new season yet…

American Vampire, Volume 3 – Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque & Sean Murphy. I just love the tone of this series. It manages to mix American history with vampire lore without being too serious or ridiculous, and it’s super enjoyable to read.

The Books of Magic – Neil Gaiman, John Bolton et. al. I hadn’t read this since my early teens and enjoyed my revisit. I’m not overly familiar with the DC universe, so this serves as a great guide to the more magical corners of it. In a post-Harry Potter world, Timothy Hunter is still cool as fuck.

Fury, Volume 1: My War Gone By – Garth Ennis, Goran Parlov & Lee Loughridge. I’m not a fan of the type of storytelling that involves us learning how difficult it is to be a man and how ladies should always be topless, so no to this.

The Twelve, Volume 1 – J. Michael Straczynski & Chris Weston. I felt like I’d read this before, but I hadn’t. Turns out it’s just super similar to a bunch of other titles – heroes from the past are transplanted into the future and have a tough time fitting in, oh no!

Fell, Volume 1: Feral City – Warren Ellis & Ben Templesmith. Detective Richard Fell is transferred to Snow City after royally fucking up his career. On a downward spiral, he finds Snow City even weirder than he could ever have suspected. This is a really successful mix of horror and crime, totally elevated by Ben Templesmith’s excellent art.

Savage Wolverine, Volume 4: The Best There Is – Jen Van Meter & Gail Simone. Oh, Wolverine. Who is it that’s buying endless titles of yours??

Death of Wolverine – Charles Soule & Steven McNiven. I haven’t read much of the lead-up to this, so at time it didn’t make a lot of sense. Wolverine dies, and we’re supposed to think it’s forever. Okay then.

The Baking Life of Amelia Day – Vanessa Curtis. Amelia loves to bake, and she really wants to take part in baking reality TV programme. There’s only one problem – she has Cystic Fibrosis. Despite it being a huge part of her life, Amelia is not defined by her illness, and despite the serious issues it deals with, this is not a gloomy book. Instead it’s a funny, lovely read with bonus recipes (yay!).